By David Barron |
November 17, 2006

As a teenager during the final stages of the Cold War, Kirk Herbstreit recalls praying that God would preserve his hometown of Centerville, Ohio, from nuclear annihilation until he could graduate from high school and participate in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

The Almighty was merciful — to a point. Herbstreit enrolled at Ohio State and was a captain for the Buckeyes under John Cooper, as was his father under Woody Hayes, but his teams were 0-4-1 against the Wolverines.

He's back Saturday for another renewal of one of college football's great rivalries, this time as a noncombatant alongside Brent Musburger and Bob Davie for ABC's broadcast of the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown.

Herbstreit thinks the outcome will hinge on which team does a better job of handing the pregame hype, whether Michigan's front four can contain Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith and whether Michigan's offense will eschew a conservative game plan in favor of an aggressive, attacking style.

As for the larger issue in the mind of some fans of the blue persuasion — whether he can call Saturday's game down the middle — Herbstreit understands the concerns but pledges neutrality.

"When I get into a booth and evaluate a game, I'm not looking at which school I happened to attend," he said. "I'm looking at two teams trying to move the ball down the field, and I will have no problem saying what is happening and why it's happening. That's my job."

Your presence, of course, will be required for Michigan-Ohio State, by order of Paul Maguire, who will call the Cal-USC game Saturday night on ABC.

"I can't imagine that anybody who really likes the game of football would miss this game," Maguire said on a conference call at midweek.

Madani to join KFNC

Jon Madani, a former producer at ESPN Radio and former football sideline reporter for the University of Texas radio network, will join KFNC (97.5 FM) as program director for its launch in January as Houston's new ESPN Radio affiliate.

Madani, the current program director at the ESPN affiliate in Memphis, Tenn., worked at KLBJ, KVET and KWNX in Austin and produced weekend programming at ESPN Radio from 2001 through 2003. He will assume his new role on Dec. 1, about a month before KFNC launches as an all-sports station.

"I'll have about a month to discuss things and listen to people and ask questions and get us settled in on the right path," Madani said. "My assumption is that they will want me to do what we had success with in Memphis, but all markets are different.

"I think we have to be local in afternoon drive, but I don't know if it will be a five-person show, a one-person show or if it will be (announcers) from Texas or somewhere else."

Whether it's one or five, it's a good bet that one of KFNC's new voices will be KHCW (Ch. 39) anchor Jorge Vargas. "We like Jorge and would like to work with him, but we're not ready to announce a decision yet," Cumulus Radio market manager Pat Fant said Thursday.

Who's No. 1, pro style

One of the true bummers about the absence of NFL Network from Time Warner Cable is that viewers will miss the America's Game series, which profiles the 40 Super Bowl champions. Steve Sabol previews the series, which begins the day after Thanksgiving and wraps up on Super Bowl weekend, at 7:30 p.m. today.

Four DVRs, no waiting

It appears the NFL has found a copy of one of television's great lost treasures — a copy of Super Bowl I. No details on the quality of the tape or whether it's the NBC or CBS broadcast. ...

Jim Lampley's recent interview with Keith Jackson will air at halftime of the Army-Notre Dame game on NBC and will be posted at NBCSports.com ...

Sports Business Journal reports that Comcast, Houston's cable carrier as of next year, is wrapping up seven-year master agreements with Disney and Fox that could include ESPN Deportes and FSN HD but not, at this point, ESPNU. ...